Diva!
Italian Glamour in Fashion Jewellery
Abu Dhabi,
Italian Cultural Institute
dal 23 Giugno al 23 Luglio 2021
The exhibition
The Italian Cultural Institute of Abu Dhabi presents the exhibition ‘DIVA! Italian Glamor in Fashion Jewelery‘.
With more than 200 pieces on display, the “Diva: Italian Glamour in Fashion Jewellery” exhibition is dedicated to elegance, creative flair, manufacturing quality and close attention to materials and workmanship, all typical characteristics of this area of undisputed Italian excellence.
The exhibition, curated by Professor Alba Cappellieri, Tenured Professor of Jewellery and Accessory Design at the Milan Polytechnic and Director of the Vicenza Jewellery Museum, and realized by POLI.design, shows a fruitful intertwining of stylists, costume jewellery makers and independent designers, demonstrating how quality does not simply depend on the preciousness of the materials, but is also the result of the intangible value of creativity, craftsmanship and innovation.
The catalogue
The book describes two hundred Italian fashion jewels representing the aesthetic mirror of the society, from Dolce Vita in the 1950s to the Prêt-à-Porter of the 1980s, from Minimalism in the 1990s to the Fashion Tech of the new millennium. Jewels that show the transformation of styles and customs, women’s ambitions and their achievements, the evolution of shapes, materials and new production techniques.
It is the tale of a typically Italian story for the ability to match creativity and manufacturing, craftsmanship and industry, art and technology, beauty and innovation.
Alba Cappellieri is Full Professor at the Politecnico di Milano, where she is the Director of the International Master in Jewellery & Fashion Accessories Design. She is the Director of the Vicenza Museum of Jewellery and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Ecole Van Cleef & Arpels in Paris, of the Gijs Bakker Foundation in Amsterdam and of the Fondazione Cologni in Milan.
Contents
Preface
Introduction
THE ITALIAN EXCELLENCE
Creativity, craftmanship and innovation
JEWELLERY OR BIJOU?
Fashion jewellery
ON PRECIOUSNESS
Material or conceptual?
FROM ANCIENT WORLD TO MODERN AGE
The origins of the Italian fashion jewellery
FROM THE DOLCE VITA TO THE PRÊT-À-PORTER
Italian fashion jewellery conquers the world
FROM ART DESIGN TO FASHION TECH
New jewellery for a new millennium
ENTRIES OF THE WORKS
Bijoutiers
Fashion Designers
Designer
BIBLIOGRAPHY
